Game of the Genomes by Carl Zimmer

The human genome was sequenced in 2001. I still remember how skeptical many of my professors were at the beginning of the project. Whose genome are they going to sequence, was an oft-asked question. And then there were others who were enthusiastic about the venture. They felt that it would answer a whole lot of questions about our genome. In particular, they were sure we will know for sure what makes us so different from other animals.
Well, the 2001 paper raised a whole lot of questions rather than answering them. In particular, it was disappointing to know that the number of protein coding genes was about the same as that present in mice.  And that whole lot of our genome (in fact 98%) did not code for proteins. In fact, a majority appeared to not to code for anything.  It was called as junk DNA. 
The picture has changed a lot in the past 16 years. We now know that most of our genome codes for something. The trick is to understand what these do.
Over the years, genome sequencing has become popular. It can, after all, tell you whether you are at risk for a disease.  But what else can it tell you?
This is the question Carl Zimmer is trying to find out.  He got his entire genome sequence and then got the raw data from the company that did the sequencing.  Now he is getting it analyzed to understand the information stored in his genome.  The Game of the Genomes is an interesting read.

National Science Day

Today is the day  Sir C.V. Raman announced  his discovery.  We had decided to celebrate it with a talk by Prof. Balaram and a poster session displaying the research done by the faculty. It got hijacked by the students who decide to protest against the poor pay.  The only problem was that the research fellowships are the domain of CSIR, UGC and ultimately the MHRD.  The DST, which was co-sponsoring the program, has nothing to do with the research fellowships given to students. Minor detail but enough to derail the program. Prof. Balaram left immediately after his talk was over.
The talk was interesting for he is good orator and it is a pity that the students missed it.  Prof. Balaram began by emphasizing that science and higher education is in grave threat. Over the past few years the funding to science has not increased and every agency is now giving the same answer- no funds. Without funds we cannot do much research.  He also pointed out that Indian Political Circle is fond of the word Innovation which has nothing to do with Discovery and Invention.
As the budget speech rolls out, I see Mr. Jaitley has promised more IITs and AIIMS.   That is the easy part. The new IITs and central Universities that the previous government promised are languishing for lack of funds.  As for the existing Universities- they are dying a slow death. 
As the students were protesting, I too wished I could have protested. None of the funding agencies are releasing money and bills have piled up and I am being dunned by the companies. It is in this scenario that we try to do some research. Instead of harping on how we were the first ones to know about Pythogorean theorem and how plastic surgery was known in the ancient times I really wish the Government would pay attention to the dire state of science today in India.
Oh wait! Probably they think all that has to be discovered has already been discovered. After all I am quite sure the ancients knew all about infectious diseases and cancer and....the list is endless. 
Happy Science Day!